"I don't care, they can keep the abandoned houses. I'd rather have good roads. It sucks when I'm steadily putting money into fixing tires because I'm hitting potholes," Madison said.

For some drivers though, like Vasil Mamaladze, they don't care how the fix is funded, just as long as it gets done.

"There are certain areas that need to be fixed, and it's kind of a recurring issue," Mamaladze said.

THE BLIGHT

The price tag isn’t cheap in mid-Michigan’s fight against blight.

But getting tall grass cut or tearing down vacant buildings is a necessity, according to the Rev. Joseph McCutcheon, pastor at Freedom Center North.

“As much as we need dollars, we need to get the city back in shape where people can take pride in the neighborhoods again,” McCutcheon said.

McCutcheon runs a non-profit organization called “Revive Flint.” It benefits from government grants that help pay the bill for his efforts and those of Darry Atkins, 19, who gets a stipend for their services. The fear the funding pipeline may soon dry up, as Senate Republicans are targeting the grant program.

Both Atkins and McCutcheon said that would be devastating.

Congressman Dan Kildee is critical of the Senate’s plan. In a statement, he said:

“Once again Republicans in Congress have shown that they do not understand the unique challenges facing older industrial cities like Flint, Saginaw and Detroit. While we have made progress in stabilizing our housing market and removing thousands of vacant and abandoned homes, there is clearly more work to be done.”

While funding is critical, Atkins said the community has to take pride and respect its property.

“This is our city, we got to keep it clean, you know,” Atkins said. “We just can’t throw trash around and leave it like this – it looks ridiculous, with a whole bunch of grass and a whole bunch of trash.”

Michigan initially got $500 million, which more than $170 million was earmarked for blight removal.

This Sept. 24, 2017, photo provided by Michael Kass shows Yann Arnaud during a Cirque du Soleil performance in Toronto. Arnaud died early Sunday, March 18, 2018, after falling while performing during a show on Saturday in Tampa, Fla. (Michael Kass via AP)

A Cirque du Soleil performer died Saturday night after he fell during a performance in Tampa, Florida.